10 dead, 400,000 evacuated as fresh storm batters Philippines

A tropical storm blew out of the central Philippines on Friday, leaving at least 10 dead, knocking down trees and power and prompting the evacuation of 400,000 people from landslide- and flood-prone villages long battered by typhoons.

Bualoi was the latest of back-to-back storms from the Pacific to threaten Asia.

Typhoon Ragasa, one of the strongest to hit in years, caused at least 28 deaths in the northern Philippines and Taiwan, mostly drownings, before making landfall in China and dissipating on Thursday over Vietnam.

Bualoi made landfall in the Philippine town of San Policarpo in Eastern Samar province on Thursday night with sustained winds of 110 kph, knocking out power in east-central provinces after toppling trees and electrical posts, setting off flooding and minor landslides and blowing roofs off houses and a grandstand, the country’s disaster-mitigation agency and provincial officials said.

Around 400,000 people were evacuated to government emergency shelters as the storm approached, including in Albay province, where villagers on the foothills of Mayon, one of the country’s most active volcanoes, were asked to move to safety due to possible volcanic mudflows, Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV from the civil defence office told reporters.

Two villagers were killed after being pinned by a fallen tree and a concrete wall that collapsed and a third drowned in the hard-hit central province of Masbate. Seven villagers reportedly died in central Biliran province, mostly due to flash floods, Alejandro said.

At least 13 others were reported missing, mostly fishermen from three central provinces who have not been accounted for after venturing into the sea before the storm hit, he said.

“We need clearing operations because most of our road networks are not really passable for food and health assistance to pass,” Masbate Governor Ricardo Kho told a televised news conference after his province was pummeled by the storm on Friday morning.

“We also need help to have our ports reopened as early as possible for us to receive help from different provinces.”

Bualoi, locally named Opong, was the 15th tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines this year.

The fast-moving storm, which has a rain and wind band of about 450 kilometres from its center, veered slightly south from its forecast northwestward track.

That spared densely populated coastal provinces south of the capital, Manila, from a stronger impact before the storm started to blow into the South China Sea. Philippine forecasters said it could strengthen to a typhoon at sea on a course towards northern Vietnam.

The latest storm hit at a sensitive time in the Philippines. Multiple investigations have implicated several lawmakers, including allies of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in a corruption scandal involving flood control and related infrastructure projects.

Allegations of massive kickbacks that have financed lavish lifestyles of those involved have sparked public outrage and protests in this Southeast Asian country prone to deadly floods and typhoons.

Marcos described the scale of corruption and its impact on ordinary Filipinos as “horrible” and said nobody would be spared from ongoing investigations and prosecution, including his close allies.

Officials say the alleged massive corruption has undermined the infrastructure needed to mitigate the effect of more intense weather disturbances caused by climate change.

Two dismissed government engineers told a Senate inquiry this week that most flood control projects, road and other infrastructure projects built in Bulacan, a flood-prone province of 3.7 million people near Manila, were made substandard or overpriced in the last six years to compensate for huge kickbacks given to congressmen and senators.

Separately, rescue workers in Taiwan battled through thick mud on Friday, looking for seven people still missing after Super Typhoon Ragasa this week sent a wall of water into a small town on the east coast.

The number killed in the flooding rose by one to 15, the fire department said.

Agencies